using AVS files

[ibzomie]

I am still trying to figure out this resizing thing. I'm trying to use TPMGenc 3.0 XPress, which I believe is newer than TMPGenc Plus that is referenced in the FitCD instructions. In these instructions, it says to 'simply load the AVS file into TMPGEnc Plus and make sure you have the VIDEO ARRANGE METHOD set to FULL SCREEN.'

First, when it says to load the file, does that mean to load it the same way I would load the file that I'm trying to convert? In other words, I would simply click the ADD FILE button, browse to the AVS file, and open it into TMPGEnc Plus, correct? Or use the wizard. Or, even simpler, just drag & drop the AVS file into TMPGenc, correct?

Second, where exactly do I find the place to select the video arrange method? I must be a complete dunce in this case, because I've picked thru it page by page, screen by scree, tab by tab, and I can't find it. Or is that selection no longer available in 3.0 XPress?

Help will be greatly appreciated.

[Alex_ander]

When you import your script by dragging .avs to 'set source' window of TMPGEncXpress, cut-edit pop-up appears with 'filter' button on the top - resize is one of the filters. In my version 3.0.4.24 it is on and 'full screen' + 'keep aspect ratio' by default and can't be bypassed by unchecking. Resizing methods are selectable including Lanczos3.

[ibzomie]

Alex_ander:

OK, I found those controls under the FILTER button, just as you said. However, I am unable to import the .avs file. Whenever I try to do so, TMPGEnc gives me a message saying "Unable to open ......avs file."

I can import the source file just fine, and I can open the source file under the resize filter. Do I need the AVS file at that point? Or is there an adjustment I can make that will resize as needed? When the source file is opened in this way, it is not apparent that any resizing is needed. That is noticeable only in the new file that I get from converting the source file to mpg2. In other words, the source file plays just fine on the computer in any player that I use, but if I try to convert it in order to make a DVD, the problem shows up in the new file.

I probably should mention that this particular source file is WMV, but I get the same problem with AVI files.

Help is appreciated.

[manono]

Hi-

Do I need the AVS file at that point?

If your concern is to produce the best quality output (even given an inferior AVI or WMV source), then yes. I don't use it, but I guess that TMPGEnc XPress doesn't give out any useful error messages. Open the AVS in VDub(Mod) and if there's something wrong, it'll spit out an error message to help pinpoint the error. You can also post the script here. And at the risk of stating the obvious, you have to have installed AviSynth.

When the source file is opened in this way, it is not apparent that any resizing is needed.

If the source is AVI or WMV and the desired output is MPEG-2 for DVD, then all the more reason to get a good script out of FitCD, as, if left on your own, you're likely to screw it up. Rest assured that it needs to be resized.

[Alex_ander]

If you can import your file directly and don't get error messages from TMPGEncXpress at navigation in the imported file, in most cases you don't need an external resizer, this version of TMPG has a good enough Lanczos3 resizing engine (by default you have 'adaptive' but you can select that one). The further settings for anamorphic 16:9 or usual 4:3 would be 'full screen', unchecking 'keep aspect ratio' that is on by default in this encoder, and selecting output DVD template + AR setting. This guarantees correct results and no unexpected boarders added. Just before encoding you can use preview pop-up (doesn't work if you've imported script, not file).
If you aim is 'letterboxed', then FitCD prevents you from errors at manual calculations of letterboxed image for AviSynth (it also offers some new resizing methods like like Lanczos4 and Spline36, since v. 2.57). And yes, you have to first test your script in VDub before using in TMPG.

[ibzomie]

Yes, I've discovered that. After alex_ander pointed me to the FILTER button (what's that old saying - when all else fails read the manual, or the HELP file, or the instructions or etc etc), and I poked around in there, and then retried a couple of conversions, I find that the resizing capabilities of TMPGEnc work just fine for what I need. One of these two source files was WMV, and one was AVI, and I was trying to use MainConcept because it generally seems to be quite a bit faster than TMPGEnc, usually three hours or so compared to 8 or 10 hours for an hour-and-a-half or so file. If I had used TMPGEnc in the first place, I would never have known that resizing was necessary. And that raises another question.

If I want to use MainConcept for its speed for those files that don't need to be resized, and use TMPGEnc when necessary because of it's resizing ability, is there a way to tell before the conversion process if a file needs to be resized? That way, I don't waste time several hours converting it once with MainConcept (for speed) only to find that it needs to be resized and that I have to do it all over again and take another 8 or 10 hours with TMPGEnc.

As always, any help is appreciated.

[manono]

Forgive me, but you don't sound entirely rational to me. You want to use TMPGEnc when the video has to be resized. You want to use Main Concept when it doesn't have to be resized. That seems to imply that you're happy with the output quality of both. Yet MainConcept takes roughly a third of the time when compared to TMPGEnc. So, you'd probably be happiest using MainConcept all the time, if you could resize, right?

Which brings us back to AviSynth and FitCD. Use FitCD for resizing and to make your script, and then open the script in MainConcept. Since I don't use MainConcept, I'm assuming it takes AVS input. If you're not entirely sure about how to use FitCD, then here's FulciLives' guide:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1487285#1487285

Anyway, to answer your question, all your AVIs need to be resized. The only time you don't have to resize when encoding for DVD is if the source is already at 720x480 (most likely another DVD source). I'm assuming here that you haven't come across any anamorphically encoded AVIs.

[ibzomie]

manono:

Guilty as charged; I've never been accused of being entirely rational. Yes, I would probably use MainConcept all the time, IF I could get it to resize by using an AVS file created in FitCD (or by any other method).

I create a script in FitCD, following FulciLives' guide, but when I try to import it into MainConcept, I get a message saying "No video data found".

I can find only one reference to AVSynth in the MainConcept Help file, and that is in reference to doing frameserving after loading VOB files.

Thanks for your reply.

[manono]

Hi-

Well, MainConcept definitely takes AviSynth script files. Although this is for DV encoding using MainConcept, the concept's the same. Scroll down to 3.4 MainConcept MPEG Encoder for pics and explanations:

http://www.doom9.org/dv/guide.html

Before sending any scripts to your MPEG-2 encoder, which usually won't give off any decent error messages if there's something wrong with the script, open it first in VDub(Mod) to see that it's OK, and scroll around a little bit. If, upon opening it, you get an error message you don't understand or don't know how to correct, report both it and the script here so we can have a look.

[ibzomie]

FYI - I think I've got it, and hopefully, this will the last of this thread.

Some AVI files don't seem to need resizing; technically, maybe they do, it might be that they are off so little that it is just not noticeable. So I was waiting to find another one that definitely needed resizing, and I finally found one. I had converted it with MainConcept, and when I played back the new MPG2 file, it was noticeably cut off on the right side.

So I loaded the AVI source file into FitCD. I still haven't figured out how to load the Avisynth script into either TMPGEnc or MainConcept, so I tried something else. I noted the resize figures on the Destination side of the Resizing section of the FitCD screen.

Then I loaded the source file into MainConcept, clicked on DETAILS, then clicked on CROP & SCALE. In the SCALE section of CROP & SCALE, I loaded the figures from FitCD. I couldn't load them exactly as shown in FitCD because MainConcept wouldn't accept them exactly. The figures from FitCD were 688x464. If I loaded 688, and then 464, MainConcept would change it to 696x464. If I loaded 464 first, and then 688, MainConcept would change it to 688x458.

That didn't seem to be very much difference, so I just went with one of them. And the resulting MPG2 file was just fine. Like I said, it might be off a little, but to my eye, the titles are centered where they should be, and it plays just fine.

So, thanks to everyone who posted replies. Your efforts are appreciated.

[manono]

Some AVI files don't seem to need resizing...

Unless they were encoded anamorphically, all AVIs need resizing. Maybe you have (for example) a 640x480 AVI, and resizing to 720x480 doesn't look much different to you, I don't know. In any event, how many AVIs do you see that are already 720x480? If you're making an NTSC DVD, that's what they'll be when you're done. If you think the AVI doesn't need resizing, open it in FitCD and see how the Destination resolution changes, when compared to the Source resolution.

Of course, you can have TMPGEnc or MainConcept do the resizing for you, but, me, I much prefer to do it in AviSynth, where I can control all the variables.

I still haven't figured out how to load the Avisynth script into either TMPGEnc or MainConcept,

Did you test the script first in VDub, to make sure it was OK? I thought the MainConcept portion of that guide was pretty clear about how to open AviSynth script files. Anyway, if you've developed your own method for doing this, then good luck to you.